A couple more things...
Just so you know, Chung-euy was as surprised by all that as I was. Although it sounds like they might only get the fine for not having the permit. We'll see.
In other news, I went to the English service at the Anglican cathedral today. It was nice, and seems like there's a good group of people there. I've made some good contacts, I'll be able to do some singing (although I hope to move up to the Korean service choir soon), and it's just a good, multicultural environment (rare in Korea). Actually, one guy there today is from Sri Lanka (enjoying, i.e. thoroughly confounded by, his first winter and snowfall ever), so we chatted some. Another Korean guy studies modern dance and knows something about Lankan Theravadan Buddhism. Apparently it's becoming popular for Mahayanist Korean Buddhist monks to go over, study, and translate Theravadan texts, as they're seen as more pure. In terms of pure textual tradition, they are (a lot fewer translations, if I'm not mistaken). How much the culture is the same is more debatable, especially considering the influence of foreign scholars and other interested parties on the Buddhist revival of the late 19th-early 20th century. But that was a side note. Basically, it seems cool.
Of course, this was another case where I got lost. I arrived late to begin with, thanks to tiredness, slow buses, and just missing a subway. Should have just walked, snow or now. (Yeah, it's snowed, it's pretty.) Then I sat through the end of the Korean service in the cathedral being confused. Things became clear when I was finally led down to the the chapel in the undercroft where the English service is held.
We've also adopted a pet cat. Well, it adopted us, more. It started living behind some set pieces we store at the bottom of the stairwell a month or so ago. Sometime last week the guys set a trap for it and actually managed to catch it. Of course it's not like we can kick it out, it'll just come back, so instead they built a little cage and are now hoping that she'll mellow out and become a pet cat. We'll see. She's not too happy, but I gave her some water, turned on the heater, dimmed the lights, and put on some soft classical Indian music. Didn't have any catnip or a lavalamp to complete the mood, but even so she stopped some of her (entirely justified) whining. In fact, even after I turned the light back on, music seemed to keep her pretty well quiet. She makes some odd noises when she's perturbed though, sort of like angry purring and whiny purring, sounds I'm not sure I've ever heard from a cat before. I hope she gets used to us. I don't really know what to do. Anyone know how to domesticate a feral cat?
Updated, with captions!
These are from the photo-shoot we did a week ago to prepare some publicity materials. As I may have mentioned, I set up some lights and then ran around like a chicken with my head cut off changing colors, refocusing, and playing with levels while the photographer took pictures and they set up different scenes. This doesn't really cover the whole play, just a few picturesque/colorful/dramatic moments. And if we do use these pictures, I'm sure they'll be further edited. For example, that glow effect you see in many shots is not to do with the camera, but because you don't really get much beam-spread from an instrument that's only five feet away, even if it is a par. It was only possible to partially light any scene, given the limitations of the space and equipment, so the edges can be a little blurry.
Also, I've removed the pictures from my China trip. If you want to see some of those again, let me know. At this point I think I'll just be using the Kodak software for long-term on-line storage, and I can always send a personal invite if someone wants one, but the stuff on here will come from Picasa.
In other news, I went to the English service at the Anglican cathedral today. It was nice, and seems like there's a good group of people there. I've made some good contacts, I'll be able to do some singing (although I hope to move up to the Korean service choir soon), and it's just a good, multicultural environment (rare in Korea). Actually, one guy there today is from Sri Lanka (enjoying, i.e. thoroughly confounded by, his first winter and snowfall ever), so we chatted some. Another Korean guy studies modern dance and knows something about Lankan Theravadan Buddhism. Apparently it's becoming popular for Mahayanist Korean Buddhist monks to go over, study, and translate Theravadan texts, as they're seen as more pure. In terms of pure textual tradition, they are (a lot fewer translations, if I'm not mistaken). How much the culture is the same is more debatable, especially considering the influence of foreign scholars and other interested parties on the Buddhist revival of the late 19th-early 20th century. But that was a side note. Basically, it seems cool.
Of course, this was another case where I got lost. I arrived late to begin with, thanks to tiredness, slow buses, and just missing a subway. Should have just walked, snow or now. (Yeah, it's snowed, it's pretty.) Then I sat through the end of the Korean service in the cathedral being confused. Things became clear when I was finally led down to the the chapel in the undercroft where the English service is held.
We've also adopted a pet cat. Well, it adopted us, more. It started living behind some set pieces we store at the bottom of the stairwell a month or so ago. Sometime last week the guys set a trap for it and actually managed to catch it. Of course it's not like we can kick it out, it'll just come back, so instead they built a little cage and are now hoping that she'll mellow out and become a pet cat. We'll see. She's not too happy, but I gave her some water, turned on the heater, dimmed the lights, and put on some soft classical Indian music. Didn't have any catnip or a lavalamp to complete the mood, but even so she stopped some of her (entirely justified) whining. In fact, even after I turned the light back on, music seemed to keep her pretty well quiet. She makes some odd noises when she's perturbed though, sort of like angry purring and whiny purring, sounds I'm not sure I've ever heard from a cat before. I hope she gets used to us. I don't really know what to do. Anyone know how to domesticate a feral cat?
Updated, with captions!
These are from the photo-shoot we did a week ago to prepare some publicity materials. As I may have mentioned, I set up some lights and then ran around like a chicken with my head cut off changing colors, refocusing, and playing with levels while the photographer took pictures and they set up different scenes. This doesn't really cover the whole play, just a few picturesque/colorful/dramatic moments. And if we do use these pictures, I'm sure they'll be further edited. For example, that glow effect you see in many shots is not to do with the camera, but because you don't really get much beam-spread from an instrument that's only five feet away, even if it is a par. It was only possible to partially light any scene, given the limitations of the space and equipment, so the edges can be a little blurry.
Also, I've removed the pictures from my China trip. If you want to see some of those again, let me know. At this point I think I'll just be using the Kodak software for long-term on-line storage, and I can always send a personal invite if someone wants one, but the stuff on here will come from Picasa.
posted by Colin at 5:50 PM
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